China Brass Visit Japan under Exchange Scheme for 1st Time in 5 Yrs

Tokyo, May 16 (Jiji Press)--Chinese People's Liberation Army officers attended a welcome event in Tokyo on Thursday during their first visit to Japan under a bilateral uniformed officer exchange program in five years. 

The visit is expected to help develop ties between Chinese and Japanese authorities and improve crisis management, at a time when tensions continue around areas including Japan's southwestern remote islands.

The 20-member delegation, led by Maj. Gen. Zhang Baoqun, arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a seven-day visit that includes an inspection of a Japanese Self-Defense Force base.

At the welcome event, Zhang said in a speech that the world is entering a new period of turmoil and change. Stressing the significance of relationship-building, he said that the two countries must avoid a situation in which both suffer from the zero-sum game of division, confrontation and isolation.

The exchange program was launched by Japan's Sasakawa Peace Foundation in 2001. It was suspended from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was resumed last year with the Japanese side's visit to China.

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